Each year, the Coast Guard, in partnership with the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), Mystic Aquarium and the Inter-American Committee on Ports of the Organization of American States (OAS-CIP), sponsors a student art program with themes related to the marine environment.

The theme of this year’s contest was “Connecting Ships, Ports, and People.” Students across the Americas (North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean) in grades K-12 were invited to creatively depict the importance of ships and the cargos they carry. This year, two grand prize winners and 10 finalists were chosen from over 500 participants.

The artistic depictions of the winners and finalists will be featured in a bilingual (English and Spanish) Student Art Contest calendar and the winning artwork will be on display at the International Maritime Organization Headquarters in London for World Maritime Day celebrations.

Maritime Commons would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s competition, third grader Nelson V. from Ecuador, and seventh grader Camille Q. from Hawaii. As such, we wanted to share their unique view of the role maritime industry plays with you, our followers.

Please see below for the grand prize winning artwork. You can also view the other artwork recognized.

“Conexión de Buques, Puertos y Personas.” Artwork by Nelson V., Grade 3, from Ecuador

“Working Hard for You.” Artwork by Camille Q., Grade 7, Hawaii, USA

This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.